Typically, as shown in FIG. 1, a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) comprises elements such as client terminals or User Equipment (UE) and one or more base stations. Other network devices may also be employed, such as a switching center (not shown). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication path from the base station (BS) to the client terminal or UE is referred to herein as a downlink (DL) direction or downlink channel, and the communication path from the client terminal or UE to the base station is referred to herein as an uplink (UL) direction or uplink channel. In some WWAN, the UE communicates with the BS in both the DL and UL directions. For instance, such communication is carried out in cellular telephone systems. In other WWAN, the client terminal or UE communicates with the base stations in only one direction, usually the DL. Such DL communication may occur in applications such as paging. As used herein, the terms “base station” and “network” are used interchangeably. The terms client terminal and UE are used interchangeably herein.
Many modern client terminals and networks offer a diverse set of services and applications in addition to voice services. Many of the new services and applications rely on an internet connection being available. The internet connection for these services and applications requires a client terminal to continually keep exchanging information with the WWAN to ensure that the internet connection is active and to check the status for various applications and services.
The coverage area of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) may be limited, in the order of a few meters. The device that offers the WLAN service is referred herein as an Access Point (AP). A client terminal in a WLAN may typically transmit at lower power while communicating with WLAN when compared to the case of communicating with a WWAN. This reduces power consumption when accessing the internet through a WLAN compared to accessing internet through a WWAN. This may be an important consideration for battery operated client terminals.
For internet traffic load balancing purposes as well as to maintain Quality of Service (QoS), it may be desirable to have some client terminals switch from WWAN to WLAN and vice versa. The cost of internet service may be different for WWAN and WLAN. A WLAN based internet access may be available over a relatively small region whereas a WWAN based internet access may be available nationwide and across nations.
Considering the power consumption, load balancing, QoS, cost, availability, and possibly other factors, it may be desirable for a client terminal to switch between WWAN and WLAN. Considering all these factors, it may be preferred to get internet access from WWAN or WLAN depending on the specific scenarios.
When a user is, for example, at home or at the office, a WLAN may be accessible. The WLAN access is already paid for by subscribing to the internet service for the home or the office. This allows the user to access all the services and applications on a client terminal through the WLAN access and therefore it does not cost the user extra since the WWAN is not accessed for internet when at home or at the office.
When a user is outside WLAN coverage area, the client terminal may not have WLAN access and may be using WWAN. However, the client terminal may continue to search for WLAN access. This may lead to wasting battery power in a client terminal. For this reason, some users may turn off WLAN access on their client terminals. Therefore, even though WLAN access is usually available and already paid for at certain locations such as a home or office, it may be enabled or disabled by users on a need basis. This manual control of WLAN access may lead to inferior user experience. Furthermore, if a user forgets to disable the WLAN when going out of the current WLAN coverage area such as a home or office, the client terminal may waste power searching for a WLAN connection. Similarly, when a user returns to areas where it does have WLAN access and does not remember to enable WLAN access, the client terminal may continue to use the WWAN which may lead to increased power consumption, reduced QoS, possibly increased cost, etc.